Ethiopian military asks Tigrayan youths to surrender peacefully

Fighters loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) walk along a street in the town of Hawzen [File: Ben Curtis/AP]

NAIROBI, Kenya - Ethiopian National Defense Forces [ENDF] has asked Tigrayan youths working with Tigray Defense Forces [TDF] to surrender peacefully, as the war between the two entities enters the 10th month in the Horn of Africa nation.

A statement released by ENDF asked Tigrayan youths being "used" by Tigray Defense Forces [TDF] “as instruments in the destruction of Ethiopia,” to surrender peacefully. The Army also told the youth and militia to “stop being victims of” TDF’s “aimless war.”

The Ethiopian federal army labeled TDF leaders as “a few terrorist leaders” driven by “the greed of power” and who are sacrificing the people of Tigray in vain in order to escape the rule of law. The two factions have been fighting in Northern Ethiopia.

ENDF also claimed that the TDF leaders were “confusing and coercing the people with false propaganda in order to make them hostile to the neighboring states and the Ethiopian people in general.”

The statement further said the ENDF was “patiently appealing” to the people of Tigray, especially the youth and militia members, because it was “concerned about the terrorist’s destructive path, like the rest of the Ethiopian people are.”

"If they “surrender peacefully to the Defense Forces on all fronts, the Army will accept you, take care of you, will treat you if you are injured, and will facilitate for you to live a peaceful life with your families.”

In the statement, ENDF mentioned a lengthy list of what it said were the wrongs of the TDF which it accused of being determined “to make power its eternal inheritance” but falling short of those who want to “destroy Ethiopia” along with destroying itself.

“Therefore, young people and militias of Tigray, stop being victims of an aimless war. Pause to think on stopping the futile war of the terrorist group, which is bound to end in defeat,” ENDF said.

It further said the Army assures that “if you surrender peacefully to the Defense Forces on all fronts, the Army will accept you, take care of you, will treat you if you are injured, and will facilitate for you to live a peaceful life with your families.”

The ENDF is making this call due to the nature of its behavior for the public good and its comradeship with the people of Tigray, the statement said, adding that if the Tigrayan youth and militia members could make good on the call, the army would give “guarantees for their lives.”

Already, the TDF has seized several parts of the neighboring states of Amhara and Afar, which are working closely with the federal government. TDF insisted that it could only allow structured dialogue should the government restore access to electricity among other essentials in Tigray.

The TDF accused ENDF, Eritrea troops, and Amhara regional forces of overseeing genocide in the Tigray region. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been struggling to contain internal resistance in Ethiopia since he took over in 2018.

GAROWE ONLINE